Presently, the most common way to conduct a search using the Internet is to type in the letters or text of a search term using a keyboard of some sort. Some have tried to introduce methods which allow users to initiate Internet searches using spoken, not typed in, words. To date these methods have not been successful. Sometimes existing methods fail to produce worthwhile search results. Other times no results (i.e., no match for a search) are obtained at all.
The inadequacies of existing methods can be linked to a number of reasons. Often times the reason lies with how the method or system is structured.
Because of the way they are structured, most methods are not capable of generating worthwhile search results when a spoken search term is not an exact match, or a close approximation of, a stored reference word. When a spoken search includes a combination of words, some methods are structured to generate results only if a match for the exact combination of words is found.
Other times, the spoken search term (e.g., word) may be in the wrong syntax or tense or maybe somewhat mispronounced. So, even though a method may generate results when a term such as “driving” is used, when a conjugate form “drove” is used or when “driving” is spoken by a person with a heavy accent no results are generated.
The upshot is that it is very difficult for an individual to launch one search embodying a concept or idea expressed as a word or words. Instead, the idea or concept becomes “enslaved” to the literal appearance of a combination of words.
In sum, existing methods and systems are not flexible enough to generate search results given the wide variety of ways in which an idea may be communicated.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and systems for enabling speech-based, Internet searches which are flexible enough to generate of search results from a wider variety of communications as compared to existing techniques.
Other desires will become apparent from the drawings, detailed description of the invention and claims that follow.